So, I've recently been riding with a new trainer and it has been wonderful. She has completely understood the small steps that I'm having to make with Gabe to not only train but to re-train so much of what he knows. Though they may be small steps they have been huge for me. I can actually have contact with Gabe now without him throwing his head in my face or in the dirt. I had just been riding without leg or rein contact because he was so afraid of it, but then he would shoot off at a moments notice. Now, atleast I can enjoy riding my horse. He also has a rythm! It's amazing what good instruction can do. Gabe actually does better when I have a steady rein & leg contact because he "knows where I am" and I'm not just going to suprise him with a request. So, constant, steady contact is what I am learning. Annie also explained why I've been having so much trouble with my leg. For over two years now trainers have been telling me to bring my leg back and then they would lengthen my stirrup...ugh. I now know that that's like walking into a bar with an alcoholic, handing them money and asking them to stay sober...counterproductive. So, raise my stirrups to the right length where I don't have to reach for them and drop my heals for center of gravity. Yes, this is what I have been told since I first sat on a horse, but it's really difficult to see what you're doing wrong when you ride by yourself all the time. The other huge help was learning that it's really more about hip angle and center of gravity than leg placement. Unfortunately, for me and my horse my center has been my tush. I'm not only retraining Gabe...I'm retraining myself! So, shorten stirrups, close hip angle, drop those blasted heels, and recenter! Huge difference! Especially when riding a young horse that's trying to figure out their center of gravity, too.
Then the frustrating...I rode by myself a few days after my lesson and 30 minutes into the ride all we had been working on just went out the window. I was going over all the things that we had done in the lesson and stuff just fell apart. Next thing you know I'm frustrated, he's confused, and the best thing I could think to do was just to walk for 10 minutes and try to regain some sort of positive experience. Then I remember all the hard times, which didn't help. I remember not having the money to pay for gas to get to the barn to work off Gabe's board, much less to be able to pay for lessons. Then I would save up for the lesson and it would be horrible. I would cry about it later. I rememeber when the last barn manager changed Gabe's feed to a high fat, high protein diet and inceased the feed without telling me. That was probably the worst month of riding we have ever had. Gabe was so high strung and excitable that he would begin cantering in place the second I sat in the saddle. I was at a loss as to what I was doing wrong and why he had suddenly become so fat until I just happened to check his feed one evening. Then I remember all of the "wrong" training. Training that didn't help or hindred me and Gabe. It feels like wasted time and money. But is has been part of what has encouraged me to filter the training I have received and to trust my own instincts. Somewhere along the way I have met and worked with good trainers. Theirs are the words I remember. But more than any trainer it is my horse that teaches me the most. If I'll listen he tells me, "I'm ready lets do this!" or "I'm afraid. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'll try." The later is what I've heard the most. It's amazing that he's willing to try and trust me after all he has been through. That is what I need to remember. I hope to become a better listener and communicator with Gabe, that I could return some of the patient that he has shown me. He's a good gift from God. We'll try again tomorrow.
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